"Spinning the Wheel" is a song by English singer-songwriter

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

. The song was co-written and co-produced by Michael and Jon Douglas. It was released on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

as the third single from Michael's third studio album, ''

Older Older is the comparative form of "old". It may also refer to: Music: * ''Older'' (album), the third studio album from George Michael (released in 1996) ** "Older" (George Michael song) * "Older", a song on the 1999 album '' Long Tall Weekend'' ...

'' (1996), and depicts the worry of a lover whose partner is sexually promiscuous during the period when AIDS was newly discovered and rampant in the West. The song peaked at number two in the United Kingdom, kept off the top by the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...

' "

Wannabe "Wannabe" is the debut single by English girl group the Spice Girls. Written and composed by the group members in collaboration with Matt Rowe and Richard "Biff" Stannard during the group's first professional songwriting session, it was produ ...

". The single also peaked within the top 10 in Denmark, Hungary, Italy, and Spain where it spent 3 consecutive weeks at #1. "Spinning the Wheel" subsequently appeared on both of George Michael's compilations '' Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael'' and '' Twenty Five''.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' praised the Forthright-remix of "Spinning the Wheel" as a "hard-driving dance record", noting that the "sleek and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

y interlude" from the ''

'' album had been reconstructed "with a textured

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

sound." He also complimented Michael for breaking "interesting new ground", and that the sophistication of the original recording "remains fully intact, though Forthright darkens the groove to complimentary effect". Sarah Davis from ''

Dotmusic ''Dotmusic'' was a music webzine that existed as a standalone website from 1 June 1995 to December 2003. Initially intended as the web complement to the UK music industry trade magazine ''Music Week'', the site was relaunched in December 1998 as a ...

'' picked it as the album's "upbeat highlight", adding that it finds Michael "sending out warning signs to an errant partner": "Five o'clock in the morning, you ain't home ... I will not accept this as part of my life... I would rather be alone than watch you spinning the wheel for me". Swedish newspaper ''

Göteborgs-Tidningen ''Expressen'' (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden, the other being ''Aftonbladet''. ''Expressen'' was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or "''Expressen'' to your rescue". ...

'' stated that it is "at least as good" as "

Jesus to a Child "Jesus to a Child" is a song by British singer and songwriter George Michael. It was released in January 1996 the first of six singles from his third studio album, ''Older'' (1996). The song peaked at number one in Australia, Finland, Hungary, I ...

" and "

Fastlove "Fastlove" is a song by English singer-songwriter George Michael, released on 22 April 1996 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom and DreamWorks Records in the United States as the second single from his third album, ''Older'' (1996). Written ...

". Elysa Gardner from ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' said that Michael "achieves a light jazz feel

n the song N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...

that also makes for good background music". A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it four out of five, adding that this "balladic" follow-up to two number ones, "could just hit the spot again." Victoria Segal from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' noted its "brassy bleakness". Bob Waliszewski of ''

Plugged In Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations t ...

'' said that the singer "demonstrates 'tough love' on 'Spinning the Wheel' as he walks out on an adulterous woman." Ed Morales for ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...

'' wrote that "the singular swing of the trip-hoppy" song "is compelling".

Music video

A black-and-white

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was produced to promote the single, directed by

Vaughan Arnell Vaughan Arnell (born 31 May 1961, in Chertsey, Surrey) is a British music video and television commercial director. Although having done films for high-profile clients in the TV commercial field, including Nestlé and Levi's, he is best known for ...

and Anthea Benton. It features Michael performing with a band in a club and was later published on Michael's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel in September 2010. The video has amassed more than 6,1 million views as of October 2021.

Track listings

* Asian, Australian, European, and UK CD EP # "Spinning the Wheel" (Radio Edit) – 4:57 # "You Know That I Want To" – 4:35 # "Safe" – 4:25 # "Spinning the Wheel" (Forthright Edit) – 4:41 * Asian, Australian, European, and UK CD "The Dance Mixes" # "Spinning the Wheel" (Forthright Club Mix) – 8:11 # "

" (Forthright Edit) – 4:23 # "Spinning the Wheel" (Jon Douglas Remix) – 6:40

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinning The Wheel 1996 singles 1996 songs Black-and-white music videos George Michael songs LGBT-related songs Music videos directed by Vaughan Arnell Number-one singles in Spain Songs written by George Michael Song recordings produced by George Michael Virgin Records singles